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Kansas Wheat Innovation Center

Kansas Wheat Innovation Groundbreaking, July 12, 2011

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Heartland Plant Innovations (HPI) has moved into the new Kansas Wheat Innovation Center (KWIC) in Manhattan, the first tenants in the state-of-the-art complex that will be a hub for research that benefits wheat farmers.

In addition to HPI staff and laboratories, the staffs of the Kansas Wheat Commission (KWC) and Kansas Association of Wheat Growers (KAWG) are headquartered at the KWIC; additional tenants will include the Kansas Wheat Alliance and the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. The KWIC sits on three acres adjacent to the Grain Science and Industry Complex north of Kimball Avenue in Manhattan, on land being leased from Kansas State University.

The focus of the research at the KWIC, a 40,000 square-foot structure, which includes 15,000 square feet of advanced wheat breeding laboratories, a 10,000 square-foot greenhouse complex and 15,000 square feet of office space, will be on developing new traits, varieties and solutions for Hard Red and Hard White winter wheat farmers.

Among the complex's key features include several growth chambers and freezers, plus laboratory pods in which researchers will be able to control the growth environment of wheat plants from emergence to maturity. Four separate greenhouses have been built on the north side of the laboratory, one of which is air conditioned, allowing research to take place even in the middle of hot Kansas summers.

The research facility will also house some of the operations of K-State’s world-renowned Wheat Genetics and Genomics Resource Center (WGGRC).

The office portion of the building includes a well-appointed test kitchen in order for KWC to continue to focus on nutrition education; a large conference/meeting room is adjacent to the kitchen for baking demonstrations and other meetings. A boardroom completes the office portion of the building.

Several businesses and families have acquired naming rights of many of the rooms in the complex; funds from those naming opportunities have been placed into the new Kansas Wheat Research Foundation, which will be used exclusively for funding wheat research at Kansas State University.

New contact information for HPI is below. Please stop by for a tour when you are in Manhattan.